1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to a receptacle connector having anti-mismating structures for preventing incorrect insertion of a non-complementary plug connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Both RJ-45 connector assemblies and RJ-11 connector assemblies are generally used in signal transmission networks. Each of the RJ-45 connector assembly and the RJ-11 connector assembly includes a plug connector and a corresponding receptacle connector. When mating, the plug connector is inserted into the corresponding receptacle connector. However, the main difference between an RJ-45 plug connector and an RJ-11 plug connector, or between an RJ-45 receptacle connector and an RJ-11 receptacle connector, is that the dimensions of the RJ-45 plug connector and the RJ-45 receptacle connector are larger than those of the respective RJ-11 plug connector and RJ-11 receptacle connector. Thus, an RJ-11 plug connector may be mistakenly inserted into an RJ-45 receptacle connector, which may result in damages of both the RJ-11 plug connector and the RJ-45 receptacle connector.
Various designs have been previously proposed to solve the above problems, including providing a separate element accommodated in a receiving cavity of an insulative housing of the RJ-45 receptacle connector to block an incorrectly plugged RJ-11 plug connector. However, the RJ-45 receptacle connector with the separate element has the shortcoming of complicated structures of the insulative housing and complicated assembling procedures of the receptacle connector, and increases in dimension. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,257,935, 6,312,293 and 6,319,070 of the same assignee with the instant application, disclose some approaches.
Therefore, an improved receptacle connector is desired to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a structure-simplified receptacle connector which incorporates anti-mismating structures without enlarging its overall dimension.
A receptacle connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a contact module, a conductive outer shield and a pair of blocking tabs. The insulative housing defines a receiving cavity, a slot in communication with the receiving cavity and a groove communicating with both the receiving cavity and the slot. The contact module comprises an insulative portion assembled in the insulative housing and a plurality of electrical contacts retained to the insulative portion and partly extending into the receiving cavity. The conductive outer shield substantially encloses the insulative housing. Each blocking tab comprises a curved portion resiliently extending in the slot and a finger extending from the curved portion though the groove into the receiving cavity to prevent an incorrect insertion of a non-complementary plug connector.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.